12 Signs and Symbols You Should Know

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12 Signs and Symbols You Should Know

by Mark Nichol

What is the origin of various symbols used in English, and when is the use of each

appropriate? Heres a guide to twelve common signs, including how they developed and

in which contexts they are used or avoided.

1. & (Ampersand)

The ampersand was, at least until well into the nineteenth century, treated as the

twenty-seventh letter of the alphabet, but its star has fallen, so that now it is used only

informally except in registered names of businesses (Ay, Bee & See Inc.), which should

be written as rendered; a comma preceding it is extraneous.

The symbol comes from the cursive formation of the Latin word et (and), and the name

is a slurring contraction of and per se and, which used to terminate schoolroom recitals

of the alphabet: The phrase means and by itself and; instead of reciting, . . . W, X, Y,

Z, and, children said, . . . W, X, Y, Z, and per se and to clarify that and referred to a

list item rather than serving as a conjunction for an item that was left unuttered. The

symbol is also seen in &c. (et cetera), an alternate form ofetc.

American Psychological Association (APA) style allows the ampersand to link author

names in an in-text citation (Laurel & Hardy, 1921), but other style guides call for

using the word and.

2. * (Asterisk)

The asterisk is used to call out a footnote or to refer to an annotation of special terms or

conditions, to substitute for letters in profanity (Oh, s***!) or a name rendered

anonymous (the subject, M***), to serve as a low-tech alternative to atypographical

bullet, or provide emphasis in place of boldface (Do *not* go there the food is

awful.). It also has many specialized technical usages. Its name is derived from theGreek term asteriskos, meaning little star, and it was originally applied to distinguish

date of birth from other references to years.

3. @ (At Sign)

Until the age of e-mail, the at sign was restricted mostly to commercial use, in purchase

orders and the like, to mean at the rate of (Order 1K widgets @ $2.50 per.). Its also

used in displays of schedules for competitive sports to identify the event venue. Now its

ubiquitous in email addresses and in social-networking usage, as well as computer

protocols, but outside of those contexts, it is considered inappropriate for all but the

most informal writing.

4. (Cent)This symbol for cent(from the Latin word centum, meaning hundred), unlike its cousin

the dollar sign its also used in many monetary systems other than that of US currency

is rare except in informal usage or for price tags. When it does appear, unlike the

dollar sign, it follows rather than precedes the numeral, though as in the case of the

dollar sign, no space intervenes. The equivalent usage in a context where dollar signs are

employed is to treat the amount as a decimal portion of a dollar ($0.99); for clarity, a

zero should always be inserted between the dollar sign and the decimal point.

The sign probably originated to distinguish an ordinary cfrom one denoting a monetary

amount.

5. (Degree Sign)
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The sign for degrees of arc or degrees of temperature, which started out as a

superscripted zero, was chosen for consistency with use of the minute () and second

marks () employed in geometry and geography; those symbols originally stood for the

Latin numerals I and II. The degree sign appears in technical contexts, but in general-

interest publications, the word degree is generally used.

In references to temperature, the symbol (and the designation of the temperature scale)

immediately follows the associated numerical figure (45C). This style is true of many

publishing companies, though the US Government and the International Bureau of

Weights and Measures prescribe a space between the number and the symbol (45 C),

while other publications omit the first letter space but insert another between the symbol

and the abbreviation (45 C).

6. (Ditto Sign)

The ditto sign, first attested three thousand years ago, signals that text shown above is

to be repeated, as in a list in which the same quantity of various materials is intended to

be expressed:

apples 24

bananas

oranges

The word ditto, meaning said, derives from the Tuscan language, the immediate

ancestor of Italian, but was borrowed into English hundreds of years ago. The word, its

abbreviation (do.), and the symbol are considered inappropriate for most writing, though

the term has often been used in informal spoken and written language to mean (the

same as) what he/she said. Although the symbol has a distinct character code for online

writing, straight or curly close quotation marks are usually employed to produce it.

7. $ (Dollar Sign)

This symbol for the American dollar and many other currencies was first used to refer to

the peso, which inspired the American currency system. Various origin stories for the

symbol come in and out of fashion, but its most likely that it developed from an

abbreviation ofpesos in which the initial p preceded a superscript s; the tail of the initial

was often superimposed on the s. A dollar sign with two vertical lines is a less common

variant.

Most books and other formal publications tend to spell out dollars in association with a

(spelled-out or numerical) figure, but periodicals usually use the symbol, as do

specialized books about finance or business or others with frequent references to money.

In international publications, when the symbol is used, for clarity, it is combined with theabbreviation US (US$1.5 million or US $1.5 million).

The dollar sign is also used as an abbreviated reference to various functions in computer

programming and similar contexts.

8. # (Number or Pound Sign, or Hash)

This symbol evolved from the abbreviation forpound, lb. (a literal abbreviation for the

Roman word libra, meaning balance), in which horizontal lines were superimposed on

the vertical lines of the letters, producing something like the tic-tac-toe pattern used

today. One of many other names for the sign, octotherp (also spelled octothorp or

otherwise), was a jocular coinage by telecommunications engineers in the mid-twentieth

century. The symbol is seldom used outside informal or highly technical or otherwisespecialized contexts.


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9. % (Percent)

The sign for indicating percentage developed in the Middle Ages over the course of

hundreds of years, beginning as an abbreviation ofpercent(from the Latin phraseper

centum, meaning out of a hundred). Its use is recommended only in technical contexts

or in tabular material, where space it at a premium. (Some standards authorities call for

a space between a number and this symbol, but most publications and publishers omit

the space.)

10. ~ (Tilde)

The tilde is used as a diacritical mark over various letters to indicate a variety of sounds

in different languages, but it also appears midline, like a dash (and is sometimes called a

swung dash), to denote approximately (Last nights attendance: ~100). It has

technical connotations as well and is even used as a notation for recording sequences of

action in juggling. The name, borrowed into English through Portuguese and Spanish

from Latin, means title.

11. / (Slash, Solidus, Stroke, or Virgule)

During the Middle Ages, this sign of many names, including those listed above, served as

a comma; a pair denoted a dash. The double slash was eventually tipped horizontally to

become an equal sign and later a dash or hyphen. (The equal sign is still used as a

proofreaders mark to indicate insertion of a hyphen.) The slash also called the forward

slash to distinguish it from the backslash, which is used only in technical contexts is an

informal substitute for or.

12. _ (Underscore or Understrike)

This artifact from the era of the typewriter was used on such devices to underline words

to indicate emphasis in lieu of italics. As a survival of that function, words are sometimes

bracketed by a pair of single underscores in email and other computer contexts to mark a

word for emphasis (That band totally _rocked_ the place.). Indeed, as I typed this post

in Microsoft Word, the program automatically converted rockedto italics. The symbol also

appears frequently in email and website addresses and other technical contexts.

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12 Signs and Symbols You Should Know